WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas lawmaker plans to ask for an audit to determine whether the Kansas Department for Children and Families discriminates against same-sex couples in foster care and adoption cases. Representative Jim Ward, a Democrat from Wichita, said he will ask for the audit December 10 when the Legislative Post-Audit Committee meets. The Wichita Eagle reports that Ward's request comes after a Topeka city councilman and his wife were granted custody of a child over a lesbian couple from Wichita last year based on a recommendation from the state agency. The lesbian couple had cared for the child for 11 months. The Topeka couple, Jonathan and Allison Schumm, were charged in November with one count each of aggravated battery and four counts of endangering a child.
The AP is one of the largest and most trusted sources of independent newsgathering, supplying a steady stream of news to its members, international subscribers and commercial customers. AP is neither privately owned nor government-funded; instead, as a not-for-profit news cooperative owned by its American newspaper and broadcast members, it can maintain its single-minded focus on newsgathering and its commitment to the highest standards of objective, accurate journalism.